The World’s Favourite Colour Project surveyed 26,586 people from over 100 different countries and aimed to find out about people’s favorite color, along with what sort of associations people have with different colors and why.

Professor Anna Franklin, a leading expert in color psychology, wrote a blog post about their project.

“Many studies have investigated the link between color and emotion. Although not all of these studies agree, some consistent results can be extracted from the literature. First, the more saturated the color is, the more it is associated with excitement and stimulation. Second, the lighter the color, the more it is associated with calmness and relaxation. Many studies have found that blue and green are also associated with calmness and relaxation (fewer studies find no association).”

Orange is most often associated with happiness, pink is sexy, and people associate white, purple, and orange with luxury.

Most people’s favorite colors are shades of green and blue, and the ecological valence theory purports that humans seem to be more fond of those hues because they’re associated with beneficial environmental features like clear skies, clean water, and plants.

Likewise, we dislike brown because it’s associated with feces, dirty water, and disease.

Even though there are broad cross-cultural similarities, the study’s authors are quick to remind us that there also remain differences among cultures.

“Several studies suggest that color associations, particularly abstract concepts, can vary across cultures. For example, whereas white is associated with peace in some cultures, in others it is associated with death.”

As an avid fan of Say Yes to the Dress, I also know that while Western cultures wear white for weddings, Indian cultures prefer bright colors on a bride.